[Review] SUSE OpenStack Cloud Combines OpenStack with Private Cloud for Best of Both Worlds

Cloud computing is a solution that delivers simple, easy and economical access to shared server, storage and networking infrastructure, as well as business workload resources such as databases. It is an option that provides the right amount of infrastructure and services to build and host applications, control user access and make digital business far more agile and flexible. The problem lies in building and securing the cloud as needed and demanded by security regulations. One recent trend in solving these issues has been by adopting a private cloud, but a fear of vendor lock-in and higher costs make many companies wary.

One of the most celebrated features of SUSE OpenStack Cloud is the slick and efficient deployment structure that makes it fast and easy to provision and setup cloud services. This is a key factor in the product winning the “Rule the Stack” competition at OpenStack Summits, along with numerous awards, including Data Center Product of the Year at the Network Computing Awards and Software Defined Product of the Year at the SVC awards for 2016.

To counteract cost and vendor issues, some companies look to essentially free options like OpenStack. In fact, according to a recent study commissioned by SUSE, 81 percent of senior IT professionals at large companies are planning to move or have already moved to OpenStack private cloud. The next step then becomes deciding on how to support, maintain and update OpenStack once it is implemented on-premise.

One great choice for scaling out and improving an enterprise’s data center through OpenStack technology is the SUSE® OpenStack Cloud product. It was built to provide an Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) private cloud platform, with easy access to automated pools of IT resources to run applications. This allows for the flexibility to respond quickly and easily to new demands, providing a strong, supportive platform for development and innovation, all while enhancing an organizations’ ability to control as well as reduce and manage costs.

SUSE OpenStack Cloud is an enterprise OpenStack distribution that rapidly deploys and easily manages highly available, mixed hypervisor IaaS clouds. It is an ideal solution to leverage existing data center investments to help enterprises increase their agility, scale enterprise capabilities and lighten the administrative responsibilities of the organization’s IT department. The cloud management system tracks and manages usage of computing resources to improve server utilization and automate service delivery. The SUSE OpenStack Cloud Administration Server also includes an installation frame­work that simplifies deployment and ongoing administration. Automating these tasks improves IT staff productivity, while providing maximum flexibility to configure clouds.

One of the most celebrated features of SUSE OpenStack Cloud is the structure given to the orchestration and self-service capabilities that makes it fast and easy to provision and setup cloud services. After speaking with Mark Smith, a product marketing manager of SUSE OpenStack Cloud, he noted the importance of the cloud’s ability to ease the cloud setup and management for enterprises. This is a key factor in the product winning the “Rule the Stack” competition at OpenStack Summits, along with numerous awards, including Data Center Product of the Year at the Network Computing Awards and Software Defined Product of the Year at the SVC awards for 2016.

Through the automated deployment of a highly available cloud control plane and compute nodes, these self-service capabilities are continuously accessible. One of the appealing elements of SUSE OpenStack Cloud is the ability to offer the benefits of open source development while ensuring stability and security as provided by SUSE. SUSE has been in the business of supporting open source projects for over 20 years. Additionally, SUSE is a proven industry leader with a reputation for engineering excellence in delivering enterprise solutions with great service and support.

SUSE OpenStack Cloud transforms the data center into a private cloud

The openness of SUSE OpenStack Cloud and the vibrant OpenStack community not only provides a continuous stream of innovation undertaken by thousands of engineers but the trap of vendor lock-in is also reduced. SUSE OpenStack Cloud is built on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server and is rigorously tested by SUSE, who includes 24×7 worldwide technical support and integrates the cloud into the SUSE update process.

SUSE OpenStack Cloud was designed with the ability to help maximize workload performance and optimize licensing costs of virtual environments by delivering mixed hypervisor support for organizations using KVM, Xen, Microsoft Hyper-V, VMware vSphere or IBM z/VM. SUSE also supports the Ceph distributed storage system as well as third-party storage, networking and management solutions. This provides the flexibility to construct an enterprise-ready private cloud and is meant to help further prevent vendor lock-in. SUSE OpenStack Cloud supports the use of Docker containers as well as virtual machines to deploy and manage cloud workloads.

SUSE OpenStack Cloud includes the option of automatically deploying high availability clusters for control nodes and for KVM or Xen Linux Compute Nodes. This can make it easier for administrators to move business-critical or legacy workloads into an OpenStack private cloud and deliver the same level of availability of more traditional infrastructures.

SUSE OpenStack Cloud includes open APIs so third-party software can be integrated as needed for organizations to build the infrastructure required for their business. Both storage and networking plug-ins include broad choices for flexibility and personalization as demanded. Finally, SUSE OpenStack Cloud supports all the key OpenStack release components for best-in-class capabilities to deploy an open source, private cloud.

OpenStack offers the ideal integration engine for those customers who have already made a strategic commitment and deployed VMware. SUSE has several suggestions for taking the next step towards a private cloud. By offering full support and integration for VMware environments through VMware vCenter, IT investments are protected because existing virtualized workloads can be included in the cloud and managed via a single console. New applications can be developed using the hypervisor that best suits the workload, matching the appropriate hypervisor functions and reducing costs by paying a premium only when there is added value. In addition, existing workloads can be migrated or modernized when it makes the most business sense to do so. For more information, visit the website and look under the resources tab.

Administrators control the cloud nodes and computing resources

This list for SUSE OpenStack Cloud technical requirements for businesses is taken from the website:

SUSE is also available to speak with businesses and help determine exact cost for their needs over the phone. Additionally, SUSE has readily available support and consultation for its products depending on standard and priority services. For more information about the support, there is documentation, support lines and information about the updates and patches available online. Training is also offered for anyone who needs it, particularly for anyone not very familiar with Linux technology as SUSE’s foundation for products seems to rely heavily upon it.

Many businesses want to realize the power of OpenStack without the challenge and expense of managing it themselves. SUSE is not the only vendor that offers management services for enterprises that want to utilize OpenStack. Competitors like Rackspace and Ubuntu have alternative options to provide enterprises with the technical expertise and capacity to operate OpenStack infrastructure, tools and applications needed. Rackspace® Private Cloud (RPC) Powered by OpenStack blends technology and automation, plus human expertise to deliver ongoing architecture, security and operations backed by OpenStack-certified engineers and architects. Rackspace delivers OpenStack as a managed service, with industry-leading SLAs, to any data center in the world. Rackspace is the leading operator of OpenStack, with over 1 billion server hours of experience operating OpenStack clouds at scale.”

Alternatively, Ubuntu has past experience and offers three options for companies looking to use OpenStack with a cloud. First, they offer building your own cloud with “OpenStack Autopilot [which] is our fully automated tool for easy OpenStack deployment, management and operations.” It also offers a managed cloud with “Bootstack [where they] will set up and operate an OpenStack cloud for [an enterprise] on your premises from only $15 per server.” Finally, they also offer their services to create a customized cloud that has tailored requirements and cloud applications utilizing OpenStack software.

SUSE OpenStack Cloud is an award-winning solution that can help many enterprises transform and scale their digital businesses as needed. For organizations hunting for a product to help reduce costs and agility to their cloud, they should consider researching more into SUSE OpenStack Cloud.

Lindsey Cobb

Lindsey Cobb, a Georgia native and former history major, is a technology researcher who is fascinated by past and future of technology. When she is not engrossed in the prophecy of science fiction stories, Lindsey is likely to be planning her next adventurous trip or petting every dog she meets. Contact Lindsey at [email protected]